Brake for aeroplanes



T. STARRETT, JII.

BRAKE FORAEROPLANES.

APPLICATION FILED N0v.2 9. 1919.

l fiz wl V Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

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ATTORNEYS.

THEODORE STAR-RETT, JR., 0]? PASADENA, CALIFORNIA.

BRAKE. FOE AEROPLANES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

Application filed November 29, 1319. Serial No. 341,554.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE STARRETT, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Pasadena, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Brake for Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to aeroplanes, being more particularly a device by means of which the aeroplane may be quickly and safely brought to a stop during the landing operation. It. is common to equip aeroplanes with skids which press against the surface of the ground during the landing operation to stop the movement of the aeroplane, but such devices are unsatisfactory in that they slip over the ground readily and assist very little in retarding themovement of the aeroplane.

The principal object of my invention is to provide braking means of simple form and construction, which will engage into the surface of the ground thereby giving a greater braking action and permitting the aeroplane to be stopped after striking the ground in a much shorter distance than is ordinarily possible.

Other objects and-advantages will appear hereinafter from the following description.

Referring to the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of an aeroplane, the fuselage being broken away, such aeroplane being equipped with a device embodying a form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of that portion of the device shown in Fig. l mounted on the tail of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section of the operating mechanism for the braking device on the landing gear.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the skid shown onthe landing gear; and,

' Fig. 5 is a face View of the shoe mounted on the tail skid.

l1 designates the fuselage of an aeroplane, 12 and 13 the upper and lower planes and 14 the propeller. The landing gear consists of struts 15 and 16 in the lower ends of which is mounted a shaft 17, landing wheels 18 being mounted on the shaft in any weli known manner. 20 designates a ground anchor which is mounted in any suitable manner at its forward end upon the axle 17, the anchor being loosely mounted on the ante so that it may have an upwardly and by a cam 34 mounted upon a shaft 35 in a secured together.

The lower end of the rod 53 15 connected the upper end of which extends through a guide 27. The anchor is held in elevated, that is in full line position shown in Fig. l, by means of tension springs 28, the upper ends of which are secured in any suitable manner in a flange 29 formed upon the guide 27, the lower ends of the springs 28 extending through and being secured in any suitable manner to the flange 30 on a collar 31 secured to the rod 26.

The top of the rod 26 is provided with a plate 32 secured to the rod by means of a suitable bolt 33. This plate 32 is engaged bracket 36, the face of the cam 37 being eccentric to the shaft 35. The cam 34 is provided with an arm 38, the upper end of which terminates in an eye 39 through which passes an operatingrod 40, collars 41 and 42 being secured upon the rod 40 to I engage the eye and through the medium of the arm 38 operate the cam to depress the rod 26. The depressing of the rod 26 upon the cam 34 brings the anchor 20 into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1, that is with the shoulder 22 engaging into the surface of the ground. The operating rod 40 extends rearwardly and is connected by means of a pin 45 to an arm 46 formed as a part of a segment 47, such segment 47 being .mounted upon a shaft 48 which in turn is mounted in a bracket 49 mounted upon a v part of the frame 50 of the fuselage.

The segment 47 is provided with teeth 51 which engage a rack 52 formed on the upper end of a vertical rod 53 which vertical rod extends downwardly through a tube 54, the

upper end of which is mounted in any suitable manner upon the frame 50 and the lower end of which is secured by means of a strap 55 to a strut 56; The strut 56 and the strut 57 are secured at theirupper end in any suitable manner to the frame 5Q of the fuselage. 58 and 59 designate angle irons by means of which the struts 56 and 57 are by means of a link 60 with a shoe 61, the shoe 61 being pivotally mounted at its rear end upon a pin or bolt 62 mounted in any suitable 'manner in the lower end of the strut 57. The shoe 61 is formed with a bottom plate 63, being connected to the body portion of the shoe by means of a web 64. he operating rod is connected at its forward end to a hand lever 65 pivotally mounted at 66 to a portion of the aeroplane convenient to the hand of the aviator. The rod 40 is elastically-held so that the cam 34: is in inoperative position and the segment 47 in such position that the rod 53 is elevated by means of a coiled spring 67, one end of which i connected to the arm 46 of the segment and the other end connected to a portion 68 of the frame work of the fuselage.

The device is operated by the operation of the hand lever 65 in the following manner:

When the aeroplane is landing and strikes the ground the aviator operates the hand lever 65 to pull the rod 40 forwardly. This movement of the rod 4:0 causes the collar 42 to engage the arm 38 of the cam 34 and move the cam, which, acting against the plate 32, depresses the rod 26, bringing the anchor 20 into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1, the shoulder or projection 22 engaging into the ground and offering resistance to the forward movement of the aeroplane. At the same time the rod 40 operates the segment 47 through the arm 46, the segment operating the rack 52 to depress the rod 53. The rod 53 being depressed causes the shoe to swing downwardly into the dotted line position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in which position the plate 63 of the shoe is below the bottom of the tail skid in which position the plate 63 enters the ground, and y such engagement offers further resistance to the forward movement of the aeroplane. While I have shown a specific form of shoe and specific form of skid, I do not mean to limit my invention to such forms as any form of ground engaging device which enters the ground. comes within the spirit of my invention.

What I claim is 1. A. braking device for aeroplanes having a landing gear and tail skid, comprising a shoe pivotally mounted on the landing gear, a shoe pivotally mounted on the tail skid,

means for elastically holding said shoes in inoperative position, and positive means for moving said shoes into operative position wherein said shoes positively enter the surface of the ground.

2. A braking device for aeroplanes comprising a tail skid, a forwardly extending shoe pgvotally connected at itsrear end to said s id, operating means connected to the forward end of said shoe arranged .to positively-swing said shoe downwardly into engagement with the ground, and means for ieldingly holding said operating means in its upper position.

In testimon whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at asadena, California, this 20th day of November, 1919.

THEODORE STARRETT, JR. 

